Hearing Horitake mention that the Cowardice Demon's neck was tough and uncuttable, Karaku—one of the two clones—seemed to gain a bit of confidence. Sweating cold sweat, he said:
"That's right! You simply cannot kill the main body! I advise you to obediently release him! Otherwise, something terrible will happen!"
Horitake glanced at Karaku and let out a cold sneer:
"I am the type of person who refuses to eat humble pie. If you tell me to release him, I will do the exact opposite. I insist on testing whether I can crush your main body's neck! I'll be happy to send him to the afterlife!"
Sekido stepped forward, shouting furiously:
"So what if you crush the main body's neck? He can regenerate just the same! Unless you sever his neck with a Nichirin Blade!
"But unfortunately for you, the main body's neck is incredibly hard. No Nichirin Blade can cut through it!
"So you cannot kill the main body. Hurry up and be a good boy and let him go!"
Horitake looked at Sekido as if he were looking at an idiot.
Leaving aside the fact that 'Majesty' at his waist was a rare treasure among Nichirin Blades—possessing unparalleled sharpness that could likely cut the Cowardice Demon's neck even if others couldn't—he didn't even need the sword. His lightning was the nemesis of all demons!
Giving the two demon clones a cold stare, Horitake spoke no further.
Crackle, snap.
Purple lightning began to flicker in Horitake's hand. This was the Purple Heavenly Lightning, an element that supremely countered demons! It ignored all of a demon's regenerative powers and self-healing abilities!
The purple lightning electrocuted the Cowardice Demon, causing him agonizing pain, sending his entire body into spasms!
How much did it hurt?
It hurt so much that the Cowardice Demon's jaw forced itself open against Horitake's index finger. He opened his mouth wide, shrieking and screaming in Horitake's hand. It was a truly miserable shriek, like that of a vengeful spirit!
Hearing the evil demon scream and seeing the Cowardice Demon being electrocuted, Jigoro and Zenitsu felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction! The wheel of fortune had indeed turned!
Hearing their main body scream and seeing him electrocuted, Sekido and Karaku were terrified. Their faces turned pale, and their scalps went numb with fear!
After a few moments of electrocution, the purple lightning stopped.
Horitake shook the Cowardice Demon, who was now emitting wisps of smoke, in his hand and spoke with utter indifference:
"Don't worry. My control over lightning is far better than it used to be. This amount of electricity won't take your main body's life; it will only subject him to excruciating pain!"
Looking at Sekido and Karaku, Horitake smiled radiantly as he delivered a heart-piercing remark:
"It would be too boring to just electrocute Hantengu's main body to death in one go.
"Why don't we conduct an experiment? Let's test the tolerance level of you demons regarding pain.
"I will specifically use lightning to stimulate the parts of the Cowardice Demon's body that cause the most intense agony. Let's see how long he can last. Will he faint directly from the pain? Will he suffer a mental breakdown? or will he simply die from the shock?
"It seems like an interesting research topic."
Horitake's tone and expression at this moment were exactly like that of a Demon Lord. The malice he radiated toward Hantengu went without saying.
Who was the hero here? Who was the villain? For a moment, it was hard to tell.
But Horitake didn't care about that.
Hantengu dared to threaten him? Then he had to be prepared for a fate where he could neither live nor die!
Just as Sekido and Karaku were trembling in fear, the Cowardice Demon in Horitake's hand suddenly let out a voice of ultimate resentment and shouted loudly:
"You dare treat me like this!? I HATE YOU!"
After saying this, Hantengu's main body activated his Blood Demon Art once more, splitting off yet another clone.
This time, the clone was born from Hantengu's emotion of Hatred!
A large mass of flesh bubbled out from Hantengu's main body in Horitake's hand, instantly forming into a new clone!
The appearance of this clone was similar to the main body, the Cowardice Demon—a withered, ugly old demon with two horns and a swollen forehead.
However, the size of this clone was much larger than the others, making him appear far more intimidating!
The moment this clone appeared, Jigoro and Zenitsu were startled.
Sekido and Karaku, however, were overjoyed. They hurriedly shouted to the new clone:
"Urami! Quick! Save the main body from his hands!"
Indeed, this clone born from the emotion of Hatred was named Urami (Resentment).
Urami possessed a massive physique, immense strength, and could use many mysterious Blood Demon Arts.
Logically speaking, Urami was Hantengu's trump card. Unless absolutely necessary, Hantengu would not split off Urami.
But he had no choice. With his main body held in Horitake's grasp, he was truly out of options and was forced to reveal his trump card early!
Watching Urami roaring and lunging toward him, Horitake appeared completely calm.
He had anticipated this.
Realizing that Urami's target was the Cowardice Demon in his hand, Horitake understood the plan immediately.
In the original story, when Hantengu was forced to use his final resort by Tanjiro, he created Urami and hid his tiny main body inside Urami's heart, making it impossible to find.
If Tanjiro hadn't unlocked the Transparent World, Hantengu might have actually escaped.
How could Horitake make such a mistake? The Cowardice Demon in his hand was Hantengu's main body; under no circumstances would he let the clones get their hands on it!
At the critical moment, Horitake's overwhelming strength was revealed.
Although Urami was huge and his lunge was ferocious, compared to Horitake, his speed and power were still lacking.
Horitake gracefully sidestepped, moving lightly while keeping a firm grip on the Cowardice Demon, effortlessly dodging Urami's pounce.
Not only that, but as Urami lunged past his side, Horitake—with eyes fast and hands faster—lashed out with a slap. His palm, charged with lightning, struck directly onto the right side of Urami's face!
This slap was delivered with tremendous force!
Urami's head spun like a spinning top. It was slapped so hard it rotated clockwise multiple times, his cervical vertebrae shattered into powder by the force.
After spinning several times, the elasticity of the skin caused Urami's head to spin back.
At this moment, Urami was completely bewildered.
He was so dazed that his shattered neck bones didn't even have time to regenerate.
Horitake followed up immediately with a backhand slap. This lightning-charged backhand struck the left side of Urami's face!
Repeating the technique with equal violence and power, Urami's head spun counter-clockwise multiple times.
The windpipe, esophagus, arteries, cervical vertebrae—everything inside that neck cavity was twisted into a pile of mush. Yet, because the skin of the neck held it together, the mess didn't splatter out.
Before Urami's head could spin back and reset to its original position...
Horitake lashed out with a kick, sending the massive Urami flying!
Slapped senseless and disoriented, Urami traced an arc through the air before crashing heavily in front of Sekido and Karaku.
Sekido and Karaku looked at Urami lying before them. They stared specifically at his head, which seemed to have lost all support and was flopping limply against his shoulder.
The two demon clones couldn't bear to look.
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